I know Donald Trump. I don't like Donald Trump. I'm not voting for Donald Trump.

But I find it hilarious how so many on the centrist-left side -- not real leftists, just whores for the Democratic Party -- are obsessed over when Trump was against the Iraq War. Was it before the illegal war started (March 2003) or, as the public record seems to indicate, some time in 2004?

While the whores rush to attack him, does anyone bother to register Hillary Clinton?

She 'regrets' her vote authorizing the Iraq War (mainly because it's the one mess she hasn't been able to lie herself out of). It was a "mistake."

Where's her statement on Iraq?

Where's her statement on anything other than her own narcissistic self?

The worthless might consider that but then if the likes of Kevin Drum were honest or ethical, instead of challenging Trump or anyone else, they'd be taking a vow of public silence because it's trash like (and including) Kevin Drum that pimped the Iraq War to begin with.

It's a sign of how craven the Kevin Drums are -- and how craven their candidate Hillary is -- that they need to attack someone for decrying the Iraq War.

While the US election is a year away, Canada's held their election.

The loser?

Stephen Harper. The War Hawk who persecutes war resisters has been prime minister of Canada since February 2006.

Thanks to the election, he's out and Justin Trudeau is in. Trudeau will not only become Canada's next prime minister, he'll become the second in his family. He's the son of the late Pierre Trudeau whose name has been raised repeatedly over the last years as people noted that, during Vietnam, Canada was a refuge for war resisters while, under Harper, it became known for kicking them out of the country.

Canada's prime minister-elect Justin Trudeau has told
US president Barack Obama that Canadian fighter jets will withdraw from
fighting the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and Syria.

Mr
Trudeau told a press conference that, while Canada remains "a strong
member of the coalition against ISIL", he had commitments to end the
combat mission.

June 19, 2014, Barack declared the only answer to Iraq's various crises was a political solution. But in the months that followed, he didn't work on a political solution, he worked on building a group of countries that would agree to bomb the already war-torn Iraq.

The bombings have not been successful.

Civilians have been killed and wounded.

Any 'militants' killed?

The bombings have been a great recruiting tool for the Islamic State.

Barack's 'plan' is a failure, Operation Inherent Failure.

And now Canada plans to walk away from the bombings.

The Guardian notes the White House's attempt to put a happy face on the news via the following statement:

The two leaders agreed on the importance of deepening the already strong
United States-Canada relationship and committed to strengthening the
countries’ joint efforts to promote trade, combat terrorism, and mitigate climate change. In particular, they noted the successful conclusion of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations
and the need to move forward with implementing the high standards of
the agreement, which promises to boost economic growth and support
good-paying jobs on both sides of the border. They committed to work
together to achieve an ambitious and durable global climate agreement in Paris in December.

Staying with the US government, Iraq came up in today's State Dept briefing. Spokesperson John Kirby was asked specifically about the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq.QUESTION: Just a couple of questions on Iraq. The prime minister of the Kurdish region has been in Iran for the past few days. He has been seeking Iran’s assistance to help resolve the political turmoil in the region. Some commentators in the region have called this possible because of the lack of an effective U.S. role there. There’s a void the Iranians are filling. Do you agree with that?MR KIRBY: A role – a lack of effective role in Iraq?QUESTION: In the region. In the – specifically in the Kurdish region. The United States has not been playing an effective role to solve this domestic problem, and the Kurds are now feeling that they have to reach the Iranians to solve that problem.MR KIRBY: Well, I won’t – certainly, they have the right to speak to who they want to speak to. But I absolutely would completely disagree with any assumption, perception, or assertion that the United States is not playing an important, indeed leading, role in the coalition efforts against ISIL. And look at the ledger. Just look at what we’ve done.QUESTION: I was talking about the political crisis that is in the region over the position of President Barzani.MR KIRBY: I think we’ve talked about this many, many times. These are internal political decisions that need to be worked out. You – when we talked about this before, we were certainly invited to some of the early discussions, and we’re grateful for the invitations and we went. But ultimately, these are decisions that local politicians have to make, and we respect that. And the support that we are giving to Iraq is through the government in Baghdad, and we’ll continue to do that.QUESTION: Okay, it’s domestic, but one last question. You seem to be taking sides when it comes to practical steps in the region. For example, yesterday General Joe Dunford was in Kurdistan and he openly called Barzani “Mr. President,” while domestically a lot of people believe that his mandate is over. Why would a high-ranking --MR KIRBY: We’ve talked about this --QUESTION: -- U.S. official call him president? I mean, do you see him as the legitimate leader of the region?MR KIRBY: We have talked about this before, that while these --QUESTION: Can you answer that again now? Do you see him as the legitimate --MR KIRBY: Well, if you’d let me answer I’d be happy to. But you’ve got to stop interrupting. Okay?QUESTION: Sure.

MR KIRBY: While these discussions are ongoing, he is still fulfilling that role and so we – he is considered to be the president while this is ongoing. But ultimately, these are decisions that Kurdish politicians have to work through, and I’ve said that before. Okay?

Developments that brought the Kurdish region to this crisis situation began when Barzani's term officially ended Aug. 20,
but the Ministry of Justice extended his tenure until 2017. That solved
a political issue, but it did not end political squabbling. Leaders
tried to resolve the issue by holding meetings of all parties
represented in the parliament.But before a solution was found, strikes and demonstrations began.Earlier this month, as Sulaimaniyah province was hosting one of those
meetings -- the ninth -- schoolteachers who had not been paid for three
months walked off their jobs.A group protested in front of the hotel where the meeting was being
held, and police used force to prevent the demonstrators from entering
the building. The group then resorted to a sit-in. As this was going on, health workers in the Iraqi Kurdistan capital, Erbil, walked off their jobs.

Reporters Without Borders is alarmed to learn that
many Kurdish media have been attacked in connection with a political
crisis in the past few days in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan,
where the security forces have closed media outlets in an attempt to
suppress criticism of the government.

The crisis over President Masoud Barzani’s succession since his term ended in August has sparked many demonstrations
since the start of October, especially in Sulaymaniyah, an opposition
stronghold. Some have turned into riots, with protesters demanding the
payment of salaries to government employees and calling on Barzani to
stand down.

To limit news coverage of the demonstrations, the
premises of several media outlets have been attacked by the security
forces or in some cases by demonstrators. Access to Facebook was even
blocked for a day, 10 October, in Erbil.

“We condemn the attacks on the media and we call on
the Kurdish authorities to respect the media’s work and to end the
harassment to which they are being subjected with complete impunity,” said Alexandra El Khazen, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Middle East and Maghreb desk.

“And amid the continuing political crisis, we urge
journalists to act in an independent and professional manner and to
refrain from fuelling political tension and disputes.”

As noted in the State Dept press briefing, US Gen Joe Dunford, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Iraq today. Jim Michaels (USA Today) reports, "America's top military officer arrived in the Kurdistan region of Iraq
on Tuesday, saying that Iraq's government has not sought Russian
airstrikes to help in its fight against Islamic State militants." Phil Stewart (Reuters) reminds
that Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was publicly open to Russia
taking part in air strikes on October 1st but that Dunford declared
today, "Subsequent to that, U.S. officials engaged Abadi and he did not
request
Russian air strikes."

AP states,
"Dunford said he wants to talk with his commanders to get updates on
battles in Beiji and Ramadi." He need not travel to Iraq for updates.

It's rather simple.

Ramadi was seized last April, the battle to retake it began in May and
now, in October, it's still ongoing with no visible progress since Iraqi
forces have failed to even enter the city in the last five months.

The Beiji oil refinery is a crucial piece of infrastructure for
Iraq, which made it a target for the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant.Iraqi security forces – with coalition air support -- have
wrested the refinery from ISIL, and this has given Iraqi government
forces confidence that they can take on the terror group, Marine Gen.
Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said
today.Dunford told reporters traveling with him that the capture of
the massive refinery by Iraqi forces could be an inflection point for
the campaign against ISIL. The chairman visited Irbil and Baghdad today
and met with Iraqi, U.S. and coalition leaders. They briefed him on the
campaign against the terror group.Kurdistan Regional President Massoud Barzani said the myth that
ISIL is some unbeatable opponent has been broken, Dunford told
reporters.Beiji was a tough battle, said Army Maj. Mike Filanowski, an
operations officer with Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent
Resolve here.

Did they get control of the refinery?

Finally?

Did they finally get control of the refinery?

The one that was seized in April.

What a pretend proud moment.

But then, you have to pretend to ignore the slaughter of Sunnis taking place in Iraq.

Oh, you can also pretend that they're all being killed by the Islamic State.

But if you're even a little bit honest, you have to face the fact that Shi'ite militias and the Iraqi military itself continues to target Sunnis.

SAN LEANDRO, CA - ACI workers walked out on strike to protest the
company's decision to fire workers accused of not having legal
immigration status. They were protesting low wages of $8.30 an hour, and
the company's refusal to honor San Leandro's Living Wage of
$14.17/hour. The workers filed a suit after learning their wage was
illegal, and the company then began firing people.

SAN LEANDRO, CA - ACI workers cheer in the company break room to
celebrate the victory of the union in an election at the company.
Workers voted for Local 6 of the International Longshore and Warehouse
Union.
David Bacon holds the copyright to the photos above and the other ones in the essay "RECYCLING WORKERS FIGHT FIRINGS AND WIN A UNION.".

About Me

We do not open attachments. Stop e-mailing them. Threats and abusive e-mail are not covered by any privacy rule. This isn't to the reporters at a certain paper (keep 'em coming, they are funny). This is for the likes of failed comics who think they can threaten via e-mails and then whine, "E-mails are supposed to be private." E-mail threats will be turned over to the FBI and they will be noted here with the names and anything I feel like quoting.
This also applies to anyone writing to complain about a friend of mine. That's not why the public account exists.